The Preservation Man

The Preservation Man

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

May 20, 1962

Runtime

0h 16m

Original Title

The Preservation Man

Director

Ken Russell

Description

Ken Russell's third Monitor documentary from 1962 is both a development from and inversion of the first, Lonely Shore. In that, an alien presence surveys a stretch of coastline strewn with assorted objects from early 1960s British lifestyles and tries (and mostly fails) to divine their meaning or purpose. The Preservation Man is also set in a series of object-strewn settings, but here they're part of the artist Bruce Lacey's collection of random junk, and their original function is irrelevant. Sensibly, Russell and commentator Huw Wheldon keep analysis to a minimum, preferring to use the film as an excuse to spend quarter of an hour in Lacey's amiable company.